The Portland daily press., 1887-07-12
ENcULFED BY THE WAVES.
Wreck of Yacht Mystery in Jamaica
Bay.
Men, Women and Children Find
Watery Graves.
Fearful catastrophy Caused by a
Drunken Skipper.

KNOWN 10 nave Deen rescued.
The party which was involved in this ter
rible disaster was made up chiefly of German
families, resident in Brooklyn and Long Is
land City. They had gone to Canarsie by
the early trains and hired two yachts, the
Mystery and Christiana, to take them to
Ruffle Bar. The fathers of several of the
families preferred to remain about Canarsie,
which accounts to some extent for the pre-
ponderance of women and children. The
boats had carried out a plentiful supply of
beer which was served freely.
The sun was just sinking when the passen-
gers of the Mystery and ChTistiana gathered
on the pier to embark for Canarsie. Many
of the men of the party showed the effects of
the beer they had drunk, and the shippers
thought it best to put the women and chill
dren aboard the Mystery, which was cabin
yacht forty feet long and much safer boat
than the Christiana. The women protested
when they heard that Captain Hendrickson
and his nine year old son were all the men
aboard. Their protest went unheeded and
Hendrickson became so angry that some of
the passengers noticed that he also had been
drinking to much.
the Ruffie Bar pier at o'clock. A very.brisk
wind west by north was fair ON her quarter
and the yacht started with her mainsail sin
gle reefed. She sat deep in the water and
did not make as good time as Captain Hen
erickson desired.
The Christiana was swinging out into the
Mystery's wake when Hendrickson said, in
the hearing of some of the women who were
rescued, that he was going to get to Canarsie
first or "bow a stick out" de then gave
orders to his son, his only crew, to get ready
to shake the reef out Of the sail Mrs. Swift
ger, of Green Point, made most earnest
protest against more sail as the boat was al
ready keeling over in way that frightened
the women almost into Mysteries. Many
others joined in the protest but Hendrickson
declared that he could sail the Mystery
through gale, and persisted in his order.
The reef knots were unfastened and the
boom dropped just as squall of considerable
velocity struck the sail In sailor parlance
it knocked the yacht down in a second. She
was ON beams end and all the people who
were on deck we're struggling in chop sea.
The catastrophe was witnessed from the
tug j. G. Dean, which was then over two
miles away from the unfortunate yacht.
Captain Rowe, of the tug, called for all the
steam that could be crowded on and ran to
the rescue.
For five minutes the yacht remained ON
her beam ends and the shrouds and bull
warks afforded some hold for the struggling
people The scramble for place to hold to
was awful. Fully half of the drowning peo-
pie were children, from babes in arms to six
years old. The mothers made frantic efforts
10 get their little ones to where they could
hold on to rope or spar and help them
selves. One after another they were swept
| off in the tide-way and, buoyed by their
| clothing, their hands moved in frantic and
unavailing appeals for help.
Some time before the Dean got near
enough to be of use, a negro put out from
Barren island in row boat, and was the
first to aid the drowning people. just as he
laid his hands upon the nearest person the
Al all
her that was shown above the water was her
topmast, the water being dotted with half
drowned mothers, still holding to their
children. The negro seemed endowed with
superhuman strength and knowledge OF
what was best to do. Those who were past
helping themselves he dragged into the boat
The others he lashed to the gunwales. AL
together he saved seven lives.
When the Dean arrived few of the vic
tins were still on the surface. AS she near
ed woman was seen trying to buoy up her
child. A man on the guards of the steamer
suddenly exclaimed, my God, that is my
wife!'' and dived to her aid. The woman
had already lost her grip on the child, and
was was t about sinking when he reached her. iI he
| had the choice OF saving her or his child,
and he chose the wife. He and she were
| soon drawn on board the Dean, but the child
sank before their eyes.
The men next grappled a woman of middle
| age, but she died of exhaustion few minutes
| after she was brought aboard the tug. A
| child and another woman also died after
| they were taken out, but five were rescued
| alive: The Dean then took aboard the seven
| who had been saved by the negro.
| 1t was nearly dark when the tug arrived at
| Canarsie with her load of dead and half
| drowned passengers. Perhaps 80 of the 500
| persons on the beach were relatives of the
! people who had sailed to Ruffie Bar in the
| morning., They were deadly anxious at the
| delay. The wall that went up when the
| catastrophe was told was heartrendering.
| Every one of the rescued persons had left
| one or two, and in one case three children in
| the water, and they passed from the apathy
| of half-cOnScl0usnesS into wild ysterlcs.
| Then the husbands, coming in from fish
| ing and learning of the disaster and how
| they had been bereft of wife and children,
became wild in the first agonies of their be-
| reavement.
! Nobody seems to know what became Of
| Captain Hendrickson or his boy. 1t is like
| ly that the latter was one Of the first
| drowned. Hendrickson was not seen after
| the catastrophe.
The skipper Of the Christiana seemed to
have been stricken with incompetency. In
stead of crowding on all sail and making
every effort to get to the rescue as soon as
| possible, he lowered sail when still several
hundred feet away from the wreck. His
boat was then caught in the tide and drifted
so far away that he could not get up in time
to be of any service.
As many of the people on the picnic had
| little acquaintance with each other it is diff
| cult to arrive at the extent of the casualty or
the names of all those drowned. Mrs. Law
renburg of No. 566 Grand street, Brooklyn.
lost both of her children, aged two and four
years. Patrick Grimes lost his wife and two
children, aged three years and three months.
Captain Hendrickson and his nine year old
son are among the missing. John SwitseI
lost two children, but saved his wife. Mrs
Myerbang was identified by her husband
who is yacht sailor at Canarsie. She died
soon after being drawn aboard the Dean
A blind harmonica player, name unknown,
is among the missing. The wife of A. r.
Pollwtz and a child three years old are also
missing.
When the death roll is finally made up it is
believed that it will number not less than
twenty-five, and possibly thirty persons.
CANARsIE. L. /. June 1.-THE tug AlpeC
with sloops Human and Vito arrived at Ca
narsie dock this afternoon, having in tow
the unfortunate slOop Mystery which was
found filled with water in the channel be-
tween Dry Bar and Barren Island. On bail
ing the water out of the sloop ten bodies
were found in the cabin and were identified
| as follows:
Frank and Lizzie Obernoz, of 14S Varicb
street, whose mother and infant brother
were also drowned and their bodies found
last night.
Margaret O'Brien and two children, Mel
lie and Johnny.
Phillip and Henry Somberg, children o.
Mrs. Louise Somberg, of 566 Grand street
who was saved.
Mary Grimes, aged % years, of 13 Ellery
street, and two children, Katie and Willie.
Deputy Coroner Setback says that it has
now been ascertained that % persons wert
lost. A fleet of boats are out looking for TIL,
missing bodies